Tilly Greenway & the Secrets of the Ancient Keys book series

Tag Archives: Muse song Survival

I’ve had a lot of emails about my last post “Olympic Earthquake Song – Striking the Right Notes?”

Most people agree that using the song “Earthquake” during the Olympic Celebrations is at best “crass”, at worst “horrifying”.

I’d like to think that the organisers of the world’s most wonderful spectacle of sporting achievement are just “too stupid” (as one correspondent suggests) to notice the messages of the songs that are being used during it, but I find it very hard to believe that they could have failed to notice the underlying energy of violence and aggression within those songs.

This underlying energy is hugely important.

To me, life happens as much in the invisible realm as in the visible. That’s the core theme within my books. What we experience on a subconscious (subliminal) level is far more powerful than anything we consciously perceive; which is why dreams, intuition and visions play such a dramatic part in our daily lives, just as they have throughout history. It’s also why subliminal advertising is so effective.

We all emit and receive millions of micro-waves of electro-magnetic energy every second. These speak to us on a deep level, informing us of frequencies (of light and sound) that our eyes cannot see. But just because we don’t see them does not mean they are not there. To a great extent, they shape us deep within.

When you have a billion people tuning in simultaneously to an event like the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics tonight, you have a chance to communicate with them on both the visible and invisible level. It’s an opportunity to be uplifting, to unite people together in a joyous occasion. Whether you choose to take or not is another matter.

I’ll happily comment on tonight’s ceremony once I have seen it, but for now let’s stick to what we actually know to be true.

The official song for London 2102 is called Survival, by a group called Muse. On the face of it, the lyrics are not so bad, but I have deep reservations. Here they are (bold pieces highlighted by me).

Muse – Survival Lyrics

Race, life’s a race
And I am gonna win
Yes, I am gonna win

And i’ll light the fuseAnd i’ll never loseAnd I choose to survive
Whatever it takesYou won’t pull ahead
I’ll keep up the pace
And i’ll reveal my strength
To the whole human race
Yes I am prepared
To stay aliveI won’t forgive, the vengeance is mineAnd I won’t give in
Because I choose to thrive

[Lyrics to Survival performed by Muse]
First seen on LyricsPremiere.com

Just to repeat myself: this is the OFFICIAL Olympic song. I don’t suggest you listen to it, but if you do, you may well be struck by the fact that it doesn’t really make you feel great. There’s a reason for this. After a melodious beginning, it becomes increasingly discordant.

My take on this is:

1) The theme of violence/bombs that we have noted continues with the phrase “I light the fuse” and the instruction to “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”

2) “Vengeance is mine” is something you’d expect to hear in a Jacobean Tragedy, rather than during a celebration of sporting prowess!

3) “Whatever it takes” implies that rules of fair play do not apply.

4) As to the words “I won’t forgive” – my personal view is that a culture improves in equal measure with its ability to show forgiveness and compassion.

You might be interested to know that the album (to be released in September) that this song comes from is called The Second Law. The law it refers to is the second law of thermodynamics, which according to Wikipedia “is an expression of the tendency that over time, differences in temperature, pressure, and chemical potential equilibrate in an isolated physical system so as to result in the naturalentropicdissolution of the system itself.”

In other words: it is the law that states that order will break down into chaos, unity into separation.

And there we go again…that underlying message of chaos and destruction which seems wholly inappropriate to the Olympic Games, but which has been chosen to represent/be associated with them.

One thing is for sure: along with the visual extravaganza, there will be a lot of subliminal messages pouring out to the billions of viewers from the poly-pyramided Olympic stadium tonight. Let’s hope that those messages, contrary to some of the music choices that we’ve seen so far, are filled with love, fun and hope, containing a vision of humanity that makes us all happy to be part of it.

For that is what I see the Olympics as. It’s a chance for individuals to excel, to celebrate extra-ordinary personal achievement whilst representing closely-knit teams. As such, it is a microcosm of our world, each of us being uniquely special, yet all of us inextricably linked by the same magical breath of life which continues, day in day out, whether we are awake or deep in dreamland, wherever we are in the world.

That’s the sort of message I’d like tonight’s Opening Ceremony broadcast: a message of light and hope for a brighter future in which the wonder of life fills our hearts with shared magic.

Post navigation

Watchers 2017 Revised edition

The Hidden Hand

About Watchers

Described as Lord of the Rings meets Dan Brown and the X-Files, Watchers is the first book in epic fantasy series Tilly Greenway and the Secrets of the Ancient Keys

Tilly Greenway and her stepbrother Zack are plunged into an epic quest to save the world. The forces against them include an evil shadow organization, a sinister alien race and a world so busy fighting the War against Terror that it can’t see the real terror in its midst. Fighting with them are an ancient order of Guardians and a host of supposedly mythical creatures (including dragons!) who have returned to help the world in this final struggle of dark against light.

Our world…

“Our world is full of secrets. some have simply been forgotten or misplaced. Others have been deliberately hidden beneath layers of carefully – crafted deception. But the thing about secrets is that, no matter how deeply they have been buried, they cannot stay hidden forever.”

Follow Blog via Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Quotes

“We only have to look at ourselves to see that intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet.
...
If aliens ever visit us,
I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn't turn out very well for the Native Americans."
Professor Stephen Hawking. (2010 AD)